‘The Wilds’ Recap: ‘Day 46/26’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 206 of ‘The Wilds’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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It is definitely safe to say, that there is one particular aspect of the Prime Video series, The Wilds, that fans have been both eagerly awaiting and dreading. Specifically, the exact moments that brought about the end of the Twilight of Adam and Dawn of Eve experiments. For it would take something ugly and major for Gretchen to pull the plug on both of these studies and move these broken teens into isolation to recover and reflect, and it is that particular brand of ugly that brings forth that particular back and forth in the minds of the loyal fans of this series. Because on the one hand, knowledge would complete our understanding of this series and fill in a bevy of gaps.

But on the other hand, we would be privy to some genuinely unsettling moments. The kind that might rattle us through and through and well… after two seasons of speculation and wonder, those dark moments began to come to life in the next episode of this tale. For ‘Day 46/26’ saw the downward spiral that was put forth in the previous story, accelerate further for both camps. To the point where we genuinely need to be concerned about the health and well-being of these characters and harbor worry regarding how low they might go… since several of the characters in both camps, went to some disturbing places for certain. One of which… actually managed to bring forth some fascinating commentary on justice in America.

For the Twilight of Adam camp… was split regarding how further to handle Seth and his heinous actions. Mainly because Kirin and Josh more or less wanted him to starve to death out there and suffer in the elements, while others wanted there to be reconciliation and some level of mercy considering their situation and well… that split led to some ugly and violent moments. The kind that made it clear that Kirin would use force to control his view of what should come next for the group and that’s scary for certain, since violence begets violence. But what mattered more here, was the powerful commentary present on how we currently view people that commit acts of sexual assault. In that we as a society really haven’t come to a consensus as to how we should regard them and how they should be punished, and it would be a good idea to do so. So that guys like Seth… know what’s coming when they cross that line, and yes… those penalties should be severe.

As for the Dawn of Eve camp well… the downward spiral present there, revolved around the pressures of living in the wild and having no hope of escape. Because that can force the human mind to do what it must to escape the sorrow of a tough situation and in Leah’s case, that involved hallucinations to help her cope, and she wasn’t the only one dealing with a rough mental state. Since Martha struggled with the reality that they would need to continue to do what they must to survive, including causing harm to animals, and that epiphany, outright broke her. To the point where she felt forced to take violent and terrifying action in the hopes of finding some semblance of peace, and well… it is obvious now that this group and the other group now stand on the precipice of disaster.

For their mental states are beginning to give way, and the freedom to make choices that others don’t agree with is starting to cause conflict and well, it is safe to say, that things are only going to get uglier from here. Because there is no support network out there for these kids, nor is there an adult or figure of authority to guide them. Just the wild and the chance to let better angels go the wayside through fear and anger and well, it really is best we brace ourselves for what comes next. For there are only two more episodes left in season two of this fascinating series and we are only days away now from what Gretchen considered to be the true collapse of these fragile little societies and it will be both fascinating and horrifying to see what brings each faction, to their respective end. Until next time.

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